Abrams, 'TV Guide' Explore Star Trek's Future

On the heels of signing a multimillion dollar contract with Paramount story), producer J.J. Abrams talked to TV Guide about his plans for Star Trek, though he refused to discuss story details or to name a likely start date.

StarTrek.com published highlights from the interview, in which Abrams called the storyline for the movie "incredible" and said that it wouldn't be "like anything you've seen before." He believes he will be ready to begin production before Paramount has planned, though he did not say when that would be.

"We're in the middle of breaking the story, and it's coming along great...we have an incredible beginning of a really dramatic story, and it very much honors the canon of Star Trek," said Abrams. "I'm producing and may direct." He said that he owned every Star Trek DVD from all the series, though he didn't watch Deep Space Nine, Voyager or Enterprise as attentively as the original series and The Next Generation, which he called "incredibly smart television."

"The original series and Next Generation were about...human nature and the idea of coming up against the unexpected and the often terrifying," he said, noting that he thinks it was incidental that they were science fiction series because the storylines were so strong. "When I watch episodes with my 7-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter and see them so vitally respond to a show that was made the year I was born — it's not because it takes place on a spaceship. What endures isn't a genre, it's character and emotional connection."

Abrams admitted that working on current cult favorite Lost has given him a new appreciation for Star Trek's fans. "Fans of Lost don't compare to fans of Star Trek, but working on Lost gives us a view into how important it is to respect the fans," he explained. He explained that he would not confirm or deny rumours that the story would focus on Starfleet Academy because "anything I say, people will read into it and make assumptions."

The July 24-30 science fiction themed issue of TV Guide, whose features are not yet online, has several other quotes from other producers about Star Trek and a story about Christie's planned October auction of Star Trek props and costumes. Former Enterprise executive producer Brannon Braga also reveals the plans for Threshold, his prematurely cancelled series now available on DVD.

StarTrek.com published the excerpts above. TV Guide is available on newsstands with four different covers, one of which features Kirk and Spock, and may publish the full stories here.

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